Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Royal Review: Invitation to a Royal Wedding by Ian Lloyd

3) It has no royal wedding pictures of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Invitation to a Royal Wedding
from 1981, 1986, 1999

There have been other books titled Invitation to a Royal Wedding. For Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys Jones. All of them include photos of those weddings, biographical information about the couple and the story of their relationship. So this particular book stands out in that respect. It would be far more accurate to title this Invitation to a Royal Engagement. Debrett's released books with this very title to mark the engagements of Charles and Diana and Andrew and Sarah. Why not for William and Kate? As well, considering that the most recent photo is of Kate from January 2011, would it not have made more sense to wait a few months with a version that includes the wedding day?

Each chapter covers the chronology of their relationship. When it comes to Prince William's background it would be easy to focus on his mother's death as the most important event of his life between his birth and engagement. To psychoanalyze the impact of Diana on his future role as husband and king. Refreshingly, this book doesn't do that, nor does it make the Middleton's out to be social climbers, like other publications continue to do.

Overall I think that this book is about as close to a perfect account of their relationship as you can get. It is factual, error-free and there is no sensationalism. It contains nice photos and it even resembles an actual wedding album. The overall impression is of elegance, something rare when it comes to books about William and Kate.